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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684075">never gone to heaven (been there before)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiffingbooks/pseuds/whiffingbooks'>whiffingbooks</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, F/M, Harry and Ginny Discord's Birthday Challenge 2020, Reveal, Secret Relationship, quarantine fic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:13:52</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,703</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25684075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/whiffingbooks/pseuds/whiffingbooks</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"When I said that I'd give you a spiffing birthday gift, I didn't factor in using the bed like this." </p>
<p>(Or how Harry and Ginny were discovered. On his birthday. Damn.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>never gone to heaven (been there before)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was nine AM on 31st July and Harry was already having his best/worst birthday.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"When I said that I'd give you a spiffing birthday gift, I didn't factor in using the bed like this." Ginny picked up her head to pout at him, her sniffles making her seem cuter than usual – an impossible feat in his eyes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hmm, there goes our plan," said Harry gently. He wanted to fluff up the pillows, but she had snapped at him quite a few times for fussing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ginny squinted at him and sat up. Her (his) shirt was too large for her frame. Her face was flushed, her forehead glistening with sweat and her eyes slightly glassy. Harry was grateful that she was stuck here, with him, rather than in her dorm at Holyhead where she would have been alone and miserable.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ugh. And how are we supposed to let those wankers know about us if I can't even get out of the house?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry sighed. He was seconds away from snuggling up to Ginny and forgetting about the entire ordeal of showing his face to any other Weasley. He didn't want to think about what the reactions are going to be. Especially Ron's, who had been trying to get his best mate and his sister together, not knowing that Harry had been besmirching his sister's honour for about a year.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He had thought that his relationship with Ginny was cocked up beyond repair after he broke up with her and didn't try to do anything to close the distance between them for another year. He had thought that Ginny had moved on – her pained looks indicating that he was inconveniencing her by being in her presence. His self-deprecating thoughts were shattered when she cornered him during her Easter holidays and snogged the lights out of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ron thought that Harry was still shooting commiserating looks at his ex-girlfriend out of longing. But if he knew what was happening inside his head...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Never thought I'd see the day you'd call your parents wankers." Harry gave in to his urge and set about fluffing up her pillows. Strangely, Ginny didn't protest. He straightened to see her staring at him with a soft expression – the kind that she usually gave him whenever he spoke about Teddy or cooked for her or braided her hair or did anything that she considered 'utterly Harry'.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He flushed under her gaze and shot her a stern look. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"My eyes are up here, Weasley."</p>
<p> </p>
<p> He muttered a spell to cool down the temperature of the bedroom. His girlfriend had been shivering for some time, but now that her fever had broken, she needed an optimum temperature.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Your bum looks quite delectable," Ginny spread her arms wide open and salaciously winked at him, "and it's calling to me. Come over here."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He felt his face heat up. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Gin..." he warned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ugh!" She threw off her covers and stood up. The shirt's hem ended a couple of inches above her knees. She looked beautiful, a sentiment that probably would get a snort out of her and an eye-roll. He always wondered why she thought that he was partial. He was, after all, not blind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Did Mum tell you when you have to reach the Burrow?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry blinked owlishly. "Erm, no? Molly didn't tell me anything."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ginny stopped pacing and turned around slowly. "What are you talking about? It's your birthday! There's bound to be a party."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Maybe, they forgot," he said flippantly, trying not to think about it. Ginny looked at him incredulously.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Harry, Mum has been going on about your birthday since forever! She was going to make this huge cake and call everyone over for a party." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry avoided her eyes. She didn't have any intention of letting him wallow though. Grabbing his hands, she tugged him down to the bed. He went willingly and wrapped his arms around her, his head tucked under her chin.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"They didn't forget. Ron is probably threatened by everyone to keep his mouth shut about your party. And after years of blurting secrets out, he has finally learnt how to keep his bloody mouth shut. Arsehole," Ginny said, her expression a mix of exasperation and fondness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry snorted. "He must be quite chuffed about his restraint."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ugh, the git will strut around with his over-inflated head. Don't give him any Christmas presents if he lords it over you." She poked him as he chortled. "I'm serious! He'll be worse than Percy!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Of course you are. Budge up, now. You're taking up the entire bed." Ignoring Ginny's gasp, he tightened his hands around her and threw her in the middle of the bed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Harry!" She squealed as he crawled up to her and started planting kisses all over her face and neck.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hmm?" He nudged her with his nose and boldly shoved his hands under her shirt.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Harry..." She tried to rebuke him, but her breathless voice encouraged him. "We should - hmm - shouldn't. Can't get you sick too..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry pulled back from her to pull off her shirt before diving back in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Don't care," he mumbled as he covered his mouth with hers and Ginny didn't complain anymore.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you sure?" Ron asked for the hundredth time. Hermione rolled her eyes but kept her focus on the glittering baubles. No one else paid him much attention: Molly was busy adding special effects to the gigantic treacle-tart shaped cake, George and Percy were arguing about the numerous WWW products he had shoved in the birthday gifts and Fleur was trying to sneak in as many chocolates as she could as everyone pretended that they didn't catch her red-handed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Are you sure?" Ron repeated forcefully. He hadn't been on board with the plan since the beginning, but due to peer pressure, he had to give in. "Harry isn't the kind of bloke who likes surprises. Blimey! He might hex us! Think that we're Death Eaters if we show up unannounced."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ron," Hermione's voice was laced with impatience, "Harry will love it." She tried to keep her face devoid of the pity that shone in her eyes. "God knows he needs a great one after years of spending the day with them." She flattened her lips to stop berating the Dursleys.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But bursting through the Floo to wish him Happy Birthday after we spent the entire morning ignoring him? That's mental!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hermione shot him a look. "I am going to Body-Bind you if you try to send him an owl again. Don't think that I forgot about your morning stunt."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ron went and picked up a few candles before sticking them on the cake. "He needs to be informed ahead that you are all planning to spring a bloody surprise on him."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Seeing her open her mouth, he waved his hand carelessly. "I know. I know. No cursing. But what happens if he's starkers? I don't want to see him in that state!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Honestly, you boys shared a dorm room for ages," Molly said disapprovingly. She levitated the cake out of the Burrow and onto the table out in the garden.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That doesn't mean I want to walk in on him, being all --" Ron gestured desperately, ignoring Hermione's scandalized gasp.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>George sidled up to him, propping his legs up on the sofa. He practically leered at him, his eyes glinting with mischief. Ron knew that getting his brother involved would only worsen the situation.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Predictably, it did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So," George said conversationally, his words tinged with an airiness that meant he was about to be an arse, "you and Harry must have had wand fights in your dorm. Is our Chosen One well, you know, endowed?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"George! Be quiet right this moment!" Molly brandished her wand and pointed it at him menacingly. "If you don't have any work, then go to Bill and get something to do. I won't have you upsetting Harry today of all days."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But he started it!" George grumbled, but dragged himself to where Bill was putting up the last of the fairy lights. "Always knew Harry was your favourite."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Now," Molly turned towards Ron, "the three of us will Floo in and get Harry. How about that?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A vacant looking Luna floated by. Literally. She halted in her tracks and gazed at them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh. So, we are surprising Ginny too?" She smiled. Her radish earrings were clashing with her violet robes and it warmed Ron's heart.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ginny is at Holyhead, dear. She couldn't get time off." Luna looked even more confused at that.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Ginny doesn't know about the surprise party?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Hermione replied, "We didn't have the chance to tell her. We didn't plan the party till a few days ago and sent her a letter about it yesterday. It's too late now for her to skip practice and join us. If they even allow her, that is." She added a few sparkles to the cake.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Harry will miss her." She shot Ron a look.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ron resisted the urge to grimace. He had no idea what was going on with his best mate and his sister. If he had to sit through another meal where the pair shot each other looks filled with longing and heat, but still refused to take another step towards being anything more than friends, he definitely would apply George's Sticky Paste to stick them together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was quite miffed that Ginny wasn't coming to the party. Unfortunately, he couldn't say anything to her. Sometimes, he hated little sisters. Especially little sisters who bewitched their brothers' best friends so that they spend all of their time staring at their bums (how he managed to stop himself from smacking Harry was a miracle).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"But Harry has her." Luna looked questioningly at them all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"That's right, dear." Molly patted her hand, visibly confused. Luna brightened and flew away, leaving them all flabbergasted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Anyway," Hermione broke the silence, "We should leave now. It's almost time for lunch and poor Harry must be thinking why we haven't wished him all morning."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Poor Harry indeed," Ron said in sympathy.</p>
<p> </p>
<hr/>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry sneezed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Uh oh." Ginny sat up, her blankets bunched at her hips. "You have it now."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He shook his head to deny it, but another sneeze ruined the effect. Ginny stood up and went to the table, kept in the corner, giving him an ample opportunity to ogle her bare legs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Has anyone told you that you have deadly legs?" Harry propped up his head on his hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She poured some Flu potion into a goblet and brought it to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was grateful for the amount he had splurged on his living room. The thick rug was perfect for innocent and not-so-innocent activities. The fireplace lit the room with a warm glow. He loved seeing Ginny in the firelight, her hair shining as if her hair was made of flames.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I have heard my boyfriend say it quite a few times. Mostly, when they are wrapped around him, mind you." She nudged his bare chest with the goblet. "Drink up. It is too late for me, but you might be able to stop yourself from becoming an Inferi."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He gulped down the contents before setting it on the nearest table. He pulled her closer towards him and bundled her up in blankets.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Hmm, if it means being with you..." He kissed her nose as Ginny sighed and melted into him. He rubbed circles on her back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You okay?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She sighed. "Still have that headache, but loads better." She smirked at him. "Gwenog knows that I'm in quarantine and will be back tomorrow. Seems like we have quite some time to reacquaint ourselves."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry was just tugging her blanket when he noticed the flames in the fireplace suddenly roared and became green. Ginny pushed herself on her elbows, her eyebrows pinched in confusion.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"What the--"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Three figures stepped out of the Floo. Harry watched in horror as Molly looked up, her eyes bright with happiness at first, but widened as she took in the scene in front of her. Hermione gasped while Ron groaned out loud.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"And that is exactly the reason why I said we should let the bugger know that we were going to bully him into coming to his birthday lunch!" He gestured at both of them. Ron looked disgusted and smug.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Molly blanched at the scene. Faintly, she asked, "What - what's happening?" She trailed off. "Ginny..."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ginny hurriedly gathered the blankets around her and sat up. Harry yelped as she tugged his sheets, he shifted behind her to hide his nakedness.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Happy Birthday!" Hermione tried to say cheerfully. She brandished her wand and shot a spell which started raining down the glitter. Harry had the inappropriate thought that Ginny looked magical with her glittery red hair. He shook his head.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Now," said Ron authoritatively, "I would love to know since when have you two been shacking up. Because this," he pointed at them, "doesn't seem like the first time you've been in this position."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry avoided his mate's eyes. A wave of panic was rising in him. <em>Molly must have started hating me by now</em>, he thought in despair. He started fidgeting with the threadbare blanket, stalling the inevitable pain that would crush him when his adoptive family threw him out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A warm hand enclosed his. He looked up and met Ginny's warm brown orbs and suddenly realized how ridiculous he was being. He nodded at her and she smiled in a way that nearly melted Harry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You see, Mum," Ginny said casually, "Harry and I have been seeing each other for quite some time. I admit that we had a much more decent way of coming clean."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Molly gaped at them. Hermione was beaming, but Harry stared at Ron's pensive face, hoping for a favourable reaction. Ron just rolled his eyes and smirked that he took to mean <em>about damn time</em>. Suddenly, he felt much lighter than he had. He pulled Ginny towards himself and kissed her forehead as she snuggled next to him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Oh!" Molly's eyes were shining. "This is terrific news! I must - oh, I need to tell the others! Harry, dear, oh!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Come on now," Ron said gruffly. "There are many people out there waiting for you. Put on some clothes, all right? I have no intention in seeing your bits." Hermione pinched his arm.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ignoring his yelp, she turned towards them. "What he means is that we are very happy for you both."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Molly nodded. "Oh, yes, yes! I must go on and let everyone know about this delightful news! Ron, Hermione - come with me." She shot Harry and Ginny a stern look. "And both of you, get dressed and be there within fifteen minutes. Otherwise, I'm leading the rest of the Weasleys here!"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"I'm staying with Harry tonight!" Ginny shouted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You may, but I'm not looking for grandchildren from you at this moment," Molly announced before Flooing.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ron winked at them before disappearing with a beaming Hermione. The couple was left in silence.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"So," Ginny drawled, "that didn't go as we planned. We should've blocked the Floo."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Erm, no," Harry agreed. "It didn't. But, it doesn't matter."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"It doesn't?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"No. They know, don't they? That's enough for me. Whatever happens, I have you." She stared at him open-mouthed, her cheeks flushing at his words. Slowly, she gathered her blankets around her and stood up. She started walking towards their bedroom when she stopped.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"You do realize that my brothers are going to be arseholes and take the mickey out of this whole situation? Haze you all night? You up for that?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry put on his glasses and smiled. "Why, that's exactly how I wanted my girlfriend's family to treat me. Want to get back at them by shagging in their bedrooms? At the very least, snog?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ginny let out a startled laugh. She held her hand out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Well, you got yourself a deal. Come on, Potter. I want to show off my boyfriend and engage in illicit activities in my home. Have you ever shagged in the youngest Weasley's bedroom?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Harry stood up. "No, I don't think so. There's a first time for everything, right?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He held her hand and intertwined their fingers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Always," Ginny said, smiling.</p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This is my birthday challenge fic! Yay! Find me on <a href="https://whiffingbooks.tumblr.com/">whiffingbooks</a><a></a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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